


a candle and a comfort

by herondale 4 (Littlelionman15)



Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: 23rd Timeline (The Magicians), 40th Timeline (The Magicians), AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brakebills (The Magicians), Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fillory (The Magicians), Fix-It, Goddess Julia Wicker, Goddesses, Healing, I Blame Tumblr, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, Julia Wicker is a Good Friend, Magic, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22188454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlelionman15/pseuds/herondale%204
Summary: 3x11 AU in which Julia heals Penny23's hands once they return to her timeline.i might have cried a bit. also i might be obsessed with them?
Relationships: 23rd Timeline William "Penny" Adiyodi/Julia Wicker, William "Penny" Adiyodi & Julia Wicker, William "Penny" Adiyodi/Julia Wicker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	a candle and a comfort

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys!   
> so this is my first ''the magicians" fic! hope you like it gahah
> 
> anyways, i ship these two madly - and kady with them, but i wanted to dwell on julia and penny alone for a hot second.   
> i did want them to kiss or have another kind of intimate moment - which, i assure you, will happen - but it kinda felt out of place since they're technically strangers at this point. 
> 
> it's thursday, the ninth of January 2020 and i kid you not when i say that i binged three seasons of this beautiful show since new year's eve. i might be lightly obesssed. i probably am. 
> 
> let me know if ya like the fic, every feedback means a lot!

As Penny closed in on the door of the Physical Kids cottage, he’d been greeted with a familiar scent. The air inside was warm and sweet, the light notes of vanilla that the young traveler had known far too well – it was her favorite scent. He couldn’t help but close his eyes for a second before entering the cottage, and go back to when times were simpler back in 23; back when Jules was still alive.

  
The memory that danced through the whirlwind of his mind was the one of the time he’d bought a stupid gift for Julia – a vanilla scented candle.   
After his classes were over, he’d spent the afternoon catching every opportunity to enjoy in the sweet, enchanting scent of what little of her vanilla perfume was left on his scarf after she’d hugged him quickly that morning. Once he’d teleported to Brooklyn, Penny couldn’t help but pay a visit to the candle store that she’d told him about once when they were still beginners at Brakebills.

When he’d given her the candle, Jules – this brilliant, kind, divine being whose chestnut eyes had a spark that outshone the one that gleamed with amazement in the eyes of everyone present in the classroom on the first day, when Alice turned the glass marble into a little horse – had giggled like a kid, her soft lips lifted into a heartwarming smile.   
“Who says you can’t do magic with your favorite scented candles too?” he’d offered as an explanation and Julia, after a quick laugh, responded with a kiss.   
He would’ve given her the world, not just a stupid candle. He would’ve given her everything if he knew how little time they would have together.

It was a long while before Penny Adiyodi could stand the smell of vanilla in the air, and an even longer once before he could suppress the reaction it triggered in his organism – the one that made his stomach feel as if it’d been set aflame and force his mind into a state that much resembled the reaction on a computer, when the screen freezes and an error sign appears.

That’s why, once he’d smelled the _persona non grata_ of smells, Penny felt a weak spasm in his hands. The hint of a smile that the memory had drawn on his lips had now reverted into a blank, pointless expression – not only was he once again reminded of everything he’d lost but now his hands would start acting crazy anytime soon; it always began with weak spasms and evolve into an inextinguishable desire to cut off his hands.

Having pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Penny closed the door silently with a light push to the door with his foot and proceeded to walk to his – well, his other self’s – room, when he’d heard a “hey!” coming from the kitchen.   
Shivers danced down his spine as he froze on the staircase. He recognized the voice immediately – how could he not? It was the most soothing, welcoming voice he’d heard; it was Julia.

“Hey” he’d responded once he’d returned to the first floor and took a left turn for the kitchen. When Penny had finally found her, Julia was sitting on the table with her legs bent like those of a meditating Buddhist monk, with a vanilla candle at each side.   
Looks like it was true – some things never change, no matter the universe or timeline.

“I know that we’ve just recently met and that it’s not really any of my business, but I noticed that your hands still twitch sometimes.” If anyone else had said it, Penny would’ve agreed, saying that it indeed wasn’t none of their business, but this was Julia, and it didn’t matter that it wasn’t his Jules – just that she was alive and that he could hear her voice.

“They do, uh” the vanilla made the air even heavier for him, “it’s a side effect of that idiot river wizard’s spell…”

But she’d already known that, hadn’t she? Their Penny had the same fate.

“Can I…” she was hesitant, Penny noticed. So he indeed wasn’t the only one who found this encounter awkward.  
Julia pointed her finger at his hands, both of which were wiggling like crazy inside his pockets. “Can I take a look at them?”

“Sure” he replies shortly, yet hesitates when it comes to taking them out of the pockets.   
Penny Adiyodi wasn’t one to be ashamed or scared of what people are going to think of him – his life had taught him otherwise, but now, with _this_ Julia and the thing that bothers him so much, something strange awoke inside him; something fragile.

It helped that she put her hands out, to welcome his in the way you’d see a kind-hearted grandchild helping their grandparent stand up or a parent supporting their baby’s first steps. Once their hands touched and skins met, something inside Penny went crazy – it was the vanilla reaction all over again.

“I think I can help you” Julia said.

“How?” he’d asked, remembering one of their first lessons – a magician couldn’t heal another one’s pain without risking to change the very essence of the person being healed on levels that reached far past atomic.

“Just…” to look for an explanation would be pointless, she would tell him later, because she doesn’t know a lot about how her new powers either. “Just trust me, okay?”

What could he possibly lose? At this point, the thought of cutting his hands off wasn’t a joke anymore – it was an option he seriously considered, because this was becoming a danger to both himself and to those around him.

Julia closed her eyes, and so did he, but not before he’d stolen another glance at her; as she wrapped her fingers around his hands, Penny felt… _safe_.   
It was strange – he couldn’t explain what he felt beneath his skin and what was happening inside his bones and muscles, inside every nerve even if he were to try. All he knew, in that moment, was that beautiful, comforting warmth had flooded his body, and that if he were to open his eyes, he’d see Julia’s chestnut eyes replaced with a divine light, one that purged every negative emotion you had with the simplest glance.

The next time he’d opened his eyes, Penny was greeted with the pair of the most beautiful eyes that couldn’t hide emotion – and right now, they gleamed with happiness.   
“Now, since I’m not too sure about how this spark inside me works, I can’t tell if I’ve fixed it…”

“You did!” his voice was shaking, as if every bad thing that had happened to him up to this point was a knot somewhere deep within his very being, and her miracle had untied it – it was as if he could breathe again, not just so that he can survive; but so that he can live.

Penny was clutching his fists and releasing them, moving his fingers as if to let the air – that suddenly wasn’t heavy anymore – become an invisible material, silk or velvet or anything as beautiful and soft, that dances underneath his fingers. The grayness in his skin and the numbness he’d felt, the alienated feeling in every touch he’d made – it was all gone!

And this amazing woman, who sat before him, with her hands trying to hide amazement and a sincere and beautiful smile that spread along with pride, was the one he had to thank for this. Despite every instinct in his body, every muscle that clung to memory they’ve learned, he didn’t kiss her like he wanted to – Penny wrapped his arms around her, shutting his eyes once he’d put his head on her shoulder because he felt tears rising.   
“Thank you, Julia…” he’d wanted to speak, but the tears choked him.   
“Thank you so, so, so much…”

She embraced him firmly, letting this new friend rest on her shoulder for as long as he’d need to; ever since she’d learned of the spark within her and ever since she’d come to learn whose it was before Persephone had planted it within her, she’d thought of it as of something that shouldn’t be worthy of gratitude and happiness – she’d wanted to get rid of it.   
But now, when she’d felt his heart rush and when she heard the sincerity in his cracking voice, Julia Wicker began to think that this spark wasn’t something that deserved rejection after all; perhaps it was something good.

  
Perhaps it was worth a shot.


End file.
